Todd Van Driel named ACAC 2018-19 Men’s North Soccer Coach of the Year

Todd Van Driel, a graduate of King’s, received his Bachelor of Arts majoring in Psychology and minoring in Physical Education while playing four seasons for the Eagles. During this time, he was selected to the ACAC All-Conference team three times, and was awarded the “King’s Male Athlete of the Year” in 2012. It is this experience as an elite athlete that Todd brings to the King’s University men’s team in just his second year as Head Coach.

In Todd’s first year, he led his team to a 4th place finish in the north division with 3 wins, 5 losses and 2 ties. Having shown steady improvement during the first two months, the King’s Eagles finished league play with 4 wins, 2 losses, and 4 ties, for a third place standing in the north and the opportunity to participate in this year’s ACAC Championships. Throughout the season, Van Driel’s young squad adopted the saying “ubuntu” (meaning “I am because we are”) as a means of creating unity and selflessness within the team - no individual is bigger than the team. This philosophy of putting the team first is evident in the way Todd coaches, as all members of the team are equally important, and each has a specific role.

Todd is clearly very passionate about soccer and extremely competitive, but he is also a very relational coach who cares about each one of his players and desires to see them succeed not only on the field, but in their academics and future careers as well. Van Driel expects a lot from his players, but he also has these same expectations of himself as he is constantly pursuing excellence. As a leader and coach, his focus is on keeping God first and teaching his guys how to look out for one another in order to build a strong team and achieve their goals together as one. Congratulations to Todd Van Driel, the North Division’s Coach of the Year!

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About the ACAC: The ACAC is the governing body for intercollegiate athletics in Alberta. Its mission is to foster the development of the student athlete through the administration and promotion of intercollegiate athletics as part of the educational experience and provide a leadership role in the development of sport in Alberta. For more information on the ACAC, please visit their website: www.acac.ab.ca